who has the bigger plums?

As a kid, anyone who shared the same forename as myself was up for a touch of hero-worship. Have no idea why, but that led me to Mike Hawthorn and Mike Hailwood.

I remember best though, Hailwood's return to the Manx TT in '78. I was riding a bike myself by then, though this would become increasingly difficult as my family grew in size. I also recall quite vividly the sense of shock/numbness that I felt when news of his death filtered through.

Bikers a just plain mad, I think, though there's a few F1 drivers down the years that could have made a go of the bike circuits. Damon Hill has said that he really wanted to race bikes ratehr than cars, but his dad's legacy made that difficult - and I think his mother would have had something to say on the matter. And Schummi seems to enjoy falling off his bike...